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The Houston Rockets have made it no secret that they are shopping Omer Asik. What remains in doubt at this point is whether they are willing to trade Jeremy Lin or not. It is more or less accepted by now that Houston was at the very least willing to listen to offers for their 25-year-old point guard this summer. He didn’t fit well into the starting lineup and all involved weren’t sure about how he would react to a Sixth Man role.

Finally, after a lot of prodding by the media and fans, Kevin McHale moved Patrick Beverley to the starting lineup and Lin to the bench. It has worked out beautifully. Lin handled it like the consummate professional that he is, and he’s been thriving in his new role. On a 9-5 team that doesn’t appear to have found its rhythm with Dwight Howard yet, he is perhaps the squad’s most shining star.

Unfortunately, the fact that he is playing as well as he is has only upped his trade value. Last week there was some speculation about Asik and Lin possibly heading to the Boston Celtics in swap for Rajon Rondo. This week, there is a new juicy rumor floating around: a deal between Houston and the Dallas Mavericks.

According to Bill Ingram, there is some talk of a trade that would send Asik to the Mavs in return for Shawn Marion and Shane Larkin. How does Lin fit into that equation? He doesn’t at the moment. However, according to Ingram, the Rockets don’t feel like a package of Marion and Larkin is enough for Asik – meaning that other players will need to be involved. And once other players get involved, the number of tradeable assets that Houston has to offer becomes very slim.

It appears to be a lock that Asik will be traded this year. Along the same lines, Lin’s value as a trade asset has never been higher. Does that mean he will get moved? No. But it certainly wouldn’t be shocking to see Lin and Asik packaged together in a deal of some sort.